My name is Jamie and I have a 5 year old autistic son named seth. He was diagnosed at the age of 18 months. He started out at our local MRDD for speech and ot services where he also attended a special preschool. He was doing so well I had decided to pull him out and enroll him into a typical preschool to get him ready for public school. He did excellent we had not one problem and he had a great support system. He started kindergarten in the fall and everything we had worked so hard to get him ready for just fell apart when he entered public school. Most of his problem is behavioral. He is very verbal and very intellegent. He has an aid who acts as a babysitter to follow him around the school and let him do whatever he wants as long as he doesnt disturb the rest of the class. So far his year has consisted of playing even though it specifically says regular classroom in his IEP. I am trying to get them to incorporate the STACK program we had already transitioned him from but they are saying there is no one trained to do it plus they are afraid if seth throws a fit he might hurt one of the other children. There have been so many many problems this year but this is just a slight glimpse. so i guess my Question is what do i do to get them to help me and seth????
FIrst of all, the public school is responsible for giving Seth an APPROPRIATE program. Putting him in with an untrained teacher and aide is NOT appropriate. Use this word because it's the legal word. Ask now for a functional behavioral assessment and a positive behavior plan that grows out of it. Ask that the teacher an aide get regular training in the classroom by a BCBA or some other behavioral professional. In NY, we usually call them Autism Consultants. The school district CANNOT refuse to train its personnel in the techniques necessary to help a child manage his disability. And autism is, by and large, a behavioral disability. Have it written into his IEP that the consultant come into the classroom once a week at first and fade the time to once a month.
The truth is that the school district will do only what it feels like doing if we parents don't learn how to hold their feet to the fire. What will be very helpful to you is to get the book From Emotions to Advocacy from www.wrightslaw.com and follow the advice there. You can also go to FETA WEB on that site. It's the companion site to the book. You'll get much more in depth help from that than can possible be written here. Parents who learn to actively advocate for their children get MUCH better services for their children than parents who don't. An alternative would be to hire an advocate to advise you. However, that can be very expensive. Around here, the typical charge is 5/hr., which is roughly half of what a lawyer charges. Also, the lawyer's job it to help in situations that have already become adversarial. Advocates try to be the bridge between the parents and the school so the relationship doesn't BECOME adversarial.
Thank you for all of your advice I will be trying every idea I can get!!! Our next meeting is on March 19th and hopefully it goes well the last couple of meetings have gotten very heated.When a parent "loses it," the District has won. That thought has kept many a tear in my eye. I've had LOTS more practice than you have because my PDD-NOS son is 16 and has been in school since age 2. Still, it can be hard to divorce my emotions from the meetings. It's important, though. IEP Meetings are really a lot like Law and Order. We have to show the evidence and come up with reasons why the District is OBLIGATED to do something. The ONLY way to do that is to understand what laws apply. Then remind the District of their legal obligations and ask them to explain why they believe the are allowed to do what they're doing (or not doing). Good luck.When you go these meetings and they agree with you and tell you they will get right on it, have them document that in the IEP as a parent concern. Also, that training is in the works. After the meeting, send them a follow up letter stating what you have understood to take place. Also, I would wait about 7 days to hear about some training, though they don't have to tell you this is happening. Then send a note in asking how the training is going, what point they are at, etc. If you get no response, call a meeting. STAY ON THEM. I know you might feel as though you shouldn't have too, but I can bet you money that teacher isn't going to bring it to anybody's attention that she needs to be trained. The principal thinks the sp ed teacher is taking care of it, the sp ed teacher has put it on the back burner and you are quite enough to let them get away without doing it. Not that that has happended, but I can see it playing out that way. So, you have to hold their feet to the fire on this one and when you see no effort is being made, send them a note saying you expect some information on this concern of yours within 10 days. AFter that 10 days, if nothing, go the board. Take them all your documentation. Eventually you will run into somebody working in that system that will see the ball has been dropped and they will see to it that it gets done ASAP.
Remember, school people can say things all day long in an IEP meeting. They can agree with til they are blue in the face. BUT, unless it's in writing in the IEP, they don't have to do it. So far, it sounds like they have gotten around offically writing that one down.
I'm just popping in to support all of Tzoya's advice and also to say that it sounds like you have the potential to be an excellent advocate for your child. I took an advocate, who works for free (!), with us to our very first IEP meeting. It was well worth it, and I think in hindsight that it would have been worth it to pay for that service. But from then on I was reading books, talking to parents, on the web, picking therapist's brains, etc., etc.
My rule of thumb is to DOCUMENT and put EVERYTHING IN WRITING which goes along with Tzoya's KNOW THE LAW advice. Good luck and please keep us posted!
I am really new at this and am trying to learn all i can. i went to the web site you had mentioned and it was VERY helpful and i plan on getting the book. i was wondering if you could please tell me more about an independant evaluation. i have had meetings with the superintendant, special ed coordinator, and principal and made it very clear i want someone to train his teacher and aid and everytime they totally agree but this is almost March and they have yet to be trained or have anything set up for the future. that is how every IEP meeting goes for me. they agree with everything that needs to be done and they're going to get right on it but it never happens.